To be notified of new postings, e-mail me.
We also have a paid subscription blog for families interested in more detailed analysis of China's program. Due to the sensitive nature of these articles, they are available by subscription only. (http://www.research-china.org/blogs/index.htm)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

August 28, 2009: Ina Hut conducted a follow-up interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, which was published today, expanding on the issues she has with the China adoption program. You can read an overview, and listen to the interview itself, here.____________________

Dutch television reported today that Ina Hut, Director of the largest adoption agency in the Netherlands, resigned as a result of pressure from the Dutch government to keep quiet about the Chinese Adoption scandals. (The video segment can be viewed here).

Ina Hut, the director of Wereldkinderen, says that the Central Authority in the Netherlands forced her to stop any investigations regarding the Chinese Adoption scandals because it might hurt the relationship of China with the Netherlands. Due to the increasingly difficult relationship between Ms. Hut and the Dutch government, especially in keeping a transparent overview of the adoption process regarding Chinese Adoptions, she could not continue her work with "a clear conscience" she said in an interview on television this evening.

The trouble stems from the Gaoping Family Planning confiscations reported by Netwerk Television in the Netherlands early last year, as well as the 2005 Hunan Baby-Buying scandal. Following the issuance of a report by the Dutch Justice Ministry, Director Hut went to China to do her own independent investigation. Before she was able to issue a report, the Chinese government notified the Dutch Justice Ministry that further investigations would result in trade sanctions being placed against the Netherlands, specifically Dutch pork.

The official letter from the Chinese stated:

"In reference to the incident in Hunan," the CCAA wrote the Dutch Justice Minister in February 2008, "I would like to reaffirm that all of the children involved for inter-country adoption are all abandoned children, who were placed for adoption in accordance with the principle of 'children's interests as the priority' and the whole procedure was legal and in light of the spirits [sic] of Hague Convention. The adoptions are protected by law and will not cause any problems for the adoptive families. It is known that these children are well cared for in the adoptive families and are doing fine. It is better not to pursue, expand or elaborate on this issue further and to keep secret for related families in order not to interrupt the bond established between the adoptive parents and the children and impose any unnecessary pressure on them."

The Dutch Justice Ministry responded by informing Ms. Hut at Wereldkinderen that she should stop any investigations into how Chinese children came into the orphanage for adoption or face the revoking of her license to participate in foreign adoptions.